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Silver
See also the Silver Six and Silverflex by Nippon Kōki and the Silver Gelto by Tōa Kōki. The Silver (シルバー) is a Japanese camera using Bolta film, postwar evolution of the Boltax, made around 1947–8. Description The Silver is a derivative of the Boltax. It has the same body with rounded edges, the same focusing helical graduated in metres down to 2/3m, and the same back door hinged to the left, used to make film loading easier and to set the position of the first exposure. The main metal parts are nickel-plated, the same as on the Boltax I and early Boltax III. The name Silver is embossed in the covering of the back door. The shutter is the same as on the Boltax I. It has the release lever on one side and the winding lever on the other. The shutter plate is black, has the speeds engraved at the top in the order 100, 50, 25, B, silver stripes on the sides and the name PICNY D inscribed at the bottom. The shutters were perhaps taken from old stocks of parts. The lens is a Silver Anastigmat 40mm f/4.5. Old stocks of Picner Anastigmat 40mm f/4.5 lenses originally made for the Boltax were perhaps reused after changing the lens bezel only. The film is loaded through the bottom plate, the reverse of the regular Boltax. The bottom plate has two film flanges, a tripod thread and a locking key with O'' and ''L indications (for Open and Locked), shaped about the same as the top opening key of the Boltax. Unlike the Boltax, no serial number is visible on the bottom plate, or elsewhere on the body. The top plate is attached by four screws. It has a torpedo-shaped optical finder offset to the right, as seen by the photographer, the same as on the Boltax. There is a film flange further to the right, with no accessory shoe, the same as on the Boltax I. The film is advanced by a knob at the top left, placed above a small metal casing containing an auto-stop mechanism. Frame numbers 1'' to ''12 are engraved on the base of the advance knob, facing an index on the metal casing. There is a small lever protruding to the rear of the casing, used to unlock the film advance after each exposure. Advertisements The Silver was advertised in Japanese magazines from May 1947 to March 1948. , p.352. The December 1947 advertisement in Kohga Gekkan was placed by the distributor Murakami Shōkai. Advertisement reproduced in , p.140. It shows absolutely no detail, and does not mention the name of the manufacturer. Origin of the camera The maker of the Silver is not known for sure. The most plausible candidate, given by various sources, is Miyagawa Seisakusho, the maker of the Boltax. , item 4262, , p.693, attribute the Silver to Miyagawa. Miyagawa is known to have released a complete redesign of the Boltax called the Picny B in late 1948, distributed by Chiyoda Shōkai, and it was certainly the owner of the "Picny" brand, also found in the "Picny D" shutter name. Successors It seems that the design of the Boltax and Silver was transferred to the company Hagimoto Shōkai founded by Hagimoto Danji. A plant was set up in Suwa and the cameras became the Dan 35 I and II, released in 1948. , item 4196, and Lewis, p.60, say that the Dan 35 I was released in 1946, but this is probably a mistake. According to , p.354, the earliest known advertisement for the Dan 35 I is dated February 1948, and the camera was featured in the new products column of Kohga Gekkan on the same month. (Some sources say that the manufacturer of the Dan 35 cameras was the company Yamato Kōki, see the discussion in Hagimoto.) The Dan 35 II is very similar to the Silver and retains the same auto-stop advance mechanism, but it has a better chrome-plated finish, and various details indicate that it was made after the Silver. The "Picny" trademark was retained by Miyagawa, who released the redesigned Picny B for Bolta film in 1948, then the Picny 35 and Royal 35 taking perforated 35mm film. Notes Bibliography * Item 535. * P.693. * Item 4262. * Takesaki Harutoshi (竹崎春年). "Boruta-han kamera no subete katarogu" (ボルタ判カメラのすべてカタログ, All Bolta-size cameras catalogue). In Pp.95–105. Links In English: * Pages at submin.com: ** Boltax, Silver, Dan 35 and Minon 35 cameras ** Silver * Silver at leitzmuseum.org In Japanese: * Silver in a page of the AJCC website Category: Japanese Bolta film Category: S